Church Planting

Church Planting Discipleship

5 Things That Destroy Discipleship Movements

By on Sunday, March 12, 2023
Death Factors

Some months ago I wrote about 6 Factors That Get Your Movement Moving.  It’s always good to look at positive things we can do to see greater fruit and growth!

It is also important to be aware of what kinds of things kill a Disciple Making Movement(DMM).  Sometimes we call these “Death Factors.” These are things to be extremely careful about.  While seemingly normal or innocent, if your goal is a multiplying movement, they will definitely “sink your ship.” When these things start to happen, you can be sure that the movement will stop growing.  If you are just getting started, the movement can die before it every really starts.  There are other “death factors” to consider, but here are five of the most common. read more

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Church Planting Evangelism Missions

3 Keys to Finding a Person of Peace

By on Sunday, February 26, 2023
person of peace

Were you ever lost in the woods and couldn’t find your way out? Maybe you’ve played a video game and were stuck in a room (in the game). You couldn’t find the door to get to the next passageway or level. That is a difficult place to be! You wander around not making progress, getting more frustrated each moment; searching, searching, searching. Disciple making among the unreached can feel similar! “Where is that key person?” we wonder. Finding the Person of Peace is important to starting a Disciple Making Movement. It takes you to the next level.

A Person of Peace acts much like a doorway. They open the community to you and your message. They are a key influencers God has chosen. You work through them to reach the area. There are important points to remember when trying to find a Person of Peace.

The Person Of Peace Isn’t Always Who You Think They Will Be

We were working in a slum community. We wanted to find people of influence there. The head of the municipality was the natural one to approach. We asked him who the various leaders were in his area. He specifically directed us to a woman who was in charge of the women’s committee.

I immediately liked her. She was smart, about my age, and had obvious leadership giftings. She was very happy to meet us. Right away, she invited us into her home for tea. A few days later, she welcomed us for a delicious curry meal. She even called some of the other leaders to come and join us for food as well.

person of peace

“She must be a woman of peace!” I thought to myself.

Over the following months, our friendship developed. I continued to visit her often. We discussed the needs of the community and various possible projects. I shared the gospel and began to share Bible stories with her. She was open, always willing to listen. As the months went by, she heard many stories. She liked Jesus but was not willing to commit to following Him.

I knew that though she was a good friend and a helpful person to know there, she was not the Woman of Peace I was looking for. I had to keep sharing with others until I found that person. Key principles were learned through that process.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” Luke 10:5-7 NIV

3 Keys To Finding A Person Of Peace

1. A Person of Peace welcomes both you and your message. read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Missions

Starting Strong with New Believers

By on Sunday, February 19, 2023

Starting strong with new believers is important. Unfortunately, many times we don’t do our discipleship job well as people come to Christ. Here is an example.

You shared the story of Jesus. At the end, you asked the question – Do you believe that what I’ve been sharing with you is true? Do you want to receive the free gift of salvation Jesus offers you today? They respond with a yes! Woohoo! Praise God! You pray with them introducing them to Jesus for the first time. He becomes their Lord and Savior. Things are going well. You are thrilled at what is happening in their lives!

What Is Next For New Believers?

It is at this critical point when the “slow down” factor often happens in our disciple making. This is not the time to reduce our engagement with this person. Not if we want to see a disciple making movement take place. Sometimes we don’t take the next steps because we don’t know what to do. Or perhaps we are just relieved that they are now “saved.” We feel we can relax just let them grow slowly by attending church.

A Critical Time

Immediately after someone receives Christ is as critical a time in their spiritual life. It is the same as the first month is for a newborn baby. We would never think of bringing a child into the world and then telling the baby, “Now come once a week to this meeting we have and you will get the food and care you need.” Would we? Of course not! Yet this is exactly what often happens with new believers.

If we train people in evangelism but don’t train them in how to disciple new believers, they don’t know what to do next. At this point, many simply invite the person to start attending church with them. That is all the follow-up they do. This is a major loss of opportunity for that person and for the movement. If we train on this issue and make a few key changes, we can see much greater multiplication!

There are a few critical things we must train our disciples to do with new believers.

new believers
Share the good news with boldness
1) Get them to immediately start sharing their story (testimony) with others.
2) Start meeting with them regularly to teach the basics of what it means to follow Christ.

Jesus Told New Believers To Immediately Share Their Testimony!

In Mark, chapter five, we read the story of Jesus casting many demons out of a man. The man begs Jesus to let him stay with him. How did Jesus respond?

“Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.'”(Mark 5:19)

Immediately after this man met was set free, the Lord instructed him to begin evangelizing others. If Jesus felt new believers were ready to start ministry immediately, then we too can follow that model!

Teach Simple Baby Lessons

In addition to encouraging new believers to witness, start meeting with them often. They need to quickly learn some basics. Ying Kai, of T4T, calls these the Baby Lessons. There are different foundational discipleship tools you can use. They need to be simple and reproducible. Make sure you get the new believers to start praying, receiving from the Word of God daily, and connecting with their new spiritual family. For this to happen, those who led them to Christ will need to meet with them often. Generally speaking, I’d recommend a few times a week in the first few months.

Obstacles- Time and Training

What are the biggest obstacles to quality discipleship for new believers? They are training and time.

  1. Training. We often train disciples to evangelize but don’t train them in how to disciple new believers. It is not hard to train them in this. Equipping in this way will make a huge difference in releasing multiplication. Give trainees a simple system to do this. A system makes it easier and less time-consuming than creating from scratch. (Sign up with the form below to learn how to use the oral culture friendly “Baby Lessons” we recommend).
  2. Time. People with full-time jobs and families, don’t have a lot of free time to follow-up on those who respond. Encourage them to give adequate time to care for those who receive Christ. Show them how to train the new believers to witness to their friends and family. This may mean they will have less time for evangelism. That is okay.

As you address the issues of time and training you will make disciples who both evangelize, make disciples and start new groups of disciples. We call these people green and blue people. 🙂

Start New Groups Through New Believers read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Mindset Shifts

How to Radically Increase the Lasting Nature of Your Fruit

By on Sunday, February 12, 2023
fruit that will last

A core activity in YWAM’s Discipleship Training School (DTS) is regular one-on-ones. Staff meet individually with students to listen, pray and speak into their lives. One-on-one discipleship and individual decisions for Christ have been the primary strategy in missions for years. Did you know that in the book of Acts, there are 21 recorded conversions, and in 19 of those cases, it was a group that together decided to follow Jesus? Can you guess who the two individuals were?

Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus was one of them. The Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion is the other. These are the only two examples in the entire book of Acts of people coming to faith alone. What should that stir us to consider as disciple-makers? read more

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Church Planting

Do You Take the Stairs or the Escalator? A Book Review

By on Sunday, February 5, 2023
Take the Stairs

The brand new mall on the far side of town was bright with lights. We, along with about a thousand other people in our North Indian city, were excited to check it out. The air conditioning alone was worth going there for in our hot, humid city. Another attraction was that this mall had escalators! Many who visited the mall had never been on one before. I enjoyed watching them experience this modern convenience for the first time. Escalators can be a bit scary to get on if you’ve never ridden one before! They are a modern convenience that most of us have gotten pretty used to. We ride them without even thinking much about it. Stairs? Yeah, they exist somewhere in case there is a fire in the building. read more

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Church Planting

What in the World Does it Mean to Become a Chicken Listener?

By on Saturday, January 28, 2023
Chicken Listener

“I just finished my Discipleship Training School,” we may say.  Or perhaps, “I was just awarded my Master of Divinity degree.”  We post pictures on Facebook or Instagram of our graduation ceremonies, put the certificate on the wall, and pat ourselves on the back for our achievements.  And well we should!  These are programs we have put a lot of hard work into and completed.  The problem is, this affects the way we think about making disciples. 

Training disciples is a process, not a program, or an event.  As we look at the Gospels we never see Jesus handing out certificates to his twelve and saying, “Okay, now you’ve arrived.”  Instead, he called them to follow Him. He invited them into a way of life with Him. It was one of ongoing training, mentoring, and deep relationship.  read more

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Church Planting Evangelism

10 Important Things To Do In Pursuing A DMM

By on Sunday, January 22, 2023
start a DMM

“Is there a clear pathway to follow in starting to pursue DMMs?” one of my readers asked. It is a hard question to answer. There are no magic formulas! I would hate to give the impression that if you follow these steps, Voila! You will end up with a multiplying movement and thousands of disciples of Jesus. That is simply not true.

DMMs are a move of God among a population segment or people group. They don’t happen by just following a few steps, or by applying a particular strategy or formula. read more

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Church Planting

10 Best Books I Read in 2022

By on Sunday, January 15, 2023

Leaders read. Period. If you want to lead others, you need to become an avid learner. Work to expand your understanding of your own field of ministry, but also branch out and explore new things. This is important for personal growth. As you consider your goals for the New Year, include a reading or learning goal. What do you want to learn about this year? What books will you read to grow spiritually? Professionally? As a person?

Below is a list of my top ten books from last year. Some of these should be on your reading list for the coming year. I’ll include a short summary of my biggest takeaways from each to give you a taste. read more

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Church Planting Leadership Missions Strategy

Multiply and Increase…Everything!

By on Sunday, December 18, 2022
multiply everything

In recent weeks I’ve had numerous conversations with people. The topic of tracking has surfaced more than once. Is it biblical?

Tracking numbers and setting goals can feel like it isn’t relational. While the feeling is real, it doesn’t need to be true. We can be both relational and also track fruitfulness. Led by the Holy Spirit and deeply dependent on Him, we can set goals and evaluate progress while still valuing each individual involved.

Admittedly, some people swing one way or the other. Many leaders don’t hold this tension well. We tend to err on one side or the other. Sometimes we say we don’t care about results at all- “God knows my heart and how much I want to see people saved! That is enough.” It sounds spiritual, but is it? read more

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Church Planting Discipleship Inspiration

Top 15 Barriers to Starting a Disciple Making Movement

By on Sunday, December 11, 2022
Barriers to starting a disciple-making movement

On May 6th, 1954 Sir Roger Bannister did something that everyone said was impossible. He ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. Up until then, people had said it was an unbreakable barrier. Doctors made strong statements saying it was not only dangerous to try to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. They, in fact, said that it was humanly impossible. This was a record that would never be broken. Until it was. After Roger did it, in a few short months, many others also ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. Today the world record is held by a man named Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco. He ran a mile in 3:43:13. We think some things are impossible and difficult barriers to Disciple-Making Movements. They are not.

Instead, they are problems waiting for a faith-filled person to turn them into an opportunity. When we do that, we not only change our own idea of the impossibility of that barrier. We open the door, like Roger Bannister did, for others to also follow us. As you overcome barriers to seeing Disciple-Making Movements, you make a path for others to follow. Be a creative, persistent, barrier breaker in DMMs!

All things are difficult, before they are easy- Thomas Fuller

Attitude Is Everything

One of my oldest leadership mentors is John Maxwell. I’ve read many of his books and greatly benefited from his leadership teachings. He often speaks of the importance of having a “Winning Attitude.”

Our attitude can turn our problems into blessings- John Maxwell

Maxwell didn’t originate this idea! Jesus was the ultimate leader in turning a painful cross into a bridge of salvation. He turned death into resurrection. Because of Jesus, we can break through any difficult problem finding victory and hope.

Paul wrote, in the book of Philippians, “I can do all things, through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil. 4:13 NKJV. With God’s strength, Spirit, creativity, and mind at work in us, every barrier we face becomes an opportunity for growth. Barriers become breakthroughs. Obstacles become opportunities.

I’ve been surveying people who are involved in starting Disciple-Making Movements. From their input, I have come up with a list of their top 15 barriers people face when trying to start a DMM. I’ll share these below.

Over the coming months, I will be writing blogs about these different barriers. I may take a break once in a while. But you will be seeing regular articles about these over the coming months.

An Invitation

As I start this series, I’d like to invite you into the process of praying, thinking and working with me on it.

None of these are new to me, though they mostly come from you, my readers. I’ve experienced and encountered each one. I’ve also seen them overcome. I’ll be sharing examples of how people have broken through these barriers. I’ll share how they have been turned them into opportunities for growth.

Before I start the series, I wanted to focus though, on our attitude, as we consider these barriers. Are you someone who sees a problem as a chance to grow? Do you see it as an opportunity for God to lead you in creative ways?

2 Questions

As you read through the list, identify the one that is most present in your area.

Then think with me about two questions:
– How could this problem become an opportunity for growth? In me and in those I am discipling?
– What solutions could be experimented with to creatively overcome this difficulty?

Before I publish an article related to the problem you are facing, God will have begun to give you solutions! I’m sure of it!

The 15 Most Common Barriers to Starting A Disciple Making Movement

  • Resistance from Pastors and Traditional Churches
    2. Human Nature- Need to “join” is higher than the desire to form/create a new group
    3. Cultural and Worldview Backgrounds related to Priesthood of All vs. an Ordained Leader
    4. Societal Fears- Rejection, Marriage, Burial concerns
    5. Unwise Partnerships with those who have resources but are not like-minded
    6. Difficulty in finding Person of Peace quickly
    7. Distractions and Lack of Focus- a post-modern idea that everything is equal. A need to be inclusive of other’s visions and priorities, so feel they can’t make DMMs a higher purpose to pursue.
    8. Cultural Misunderstandings of Christianity
    9. Wrong Focus- On Strategy instead of Lostness
    10. The desire for Quick Success and Results- Not willing to take time to build the right DNA
    11. Transient or Migrant People group- Believers Scatter
    12. Platform Issues- Takes Time, need for a visa, need to explain yourself, security issues
    13. Unable to Self Start and Plan (easier to join a program)
    14. Member Care related issues- team, burnout, loneliness
    15. Ignorance – Lack of understanding of the basics of how to get started in multiplying disciples

    • read more

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